My Application for a Mission Main Street Grant

I have been a florist for 29 years. I started working for a local florist through an on-the-job-training program when I was a 20 year old, single mother with no secondary education.I worked at that first shop a little less than a year, but after just a short time I knew flowers were my passion. I immediately applied for a tax ID number from the state and started arranging flowers for the weddings of my friends and family, running a small business out of my home. Over the course of the last two decades I have earned a degree in Interior Design and Sales, have worked on and off in the floral industry - both at established stores and independently - while waiting tables to make ends meet. Six years ago my parents purchased a triplex in a residential Minneapolis neighborhood with a retail space on the street level. They bought it based on our shared dream that I could finally open and operate my own flower shop. Once renovation and customization of the space was complete, Acanthus Floral Art was born.

I chose the name Acanthus Floral Art for several reasons. The main inspiration was the decorative use of the acanthus leaf in architectural design. Having studied interior design, I am passionate about art history and the acanthus leaf is symbolic for art. I was raised by a very enterprising father who taught me that it’s good for a business to start with an “A” because you get listed first. It was also my father who said that no one would know what Acanthus meant, so it needed some descriptive words. I added floral art and I was pleased with the way it describes and promotes not only flowers but also the artistic flair that is my signature.

I believe the success that I have had stems from my commitment to the art of arranging flowers and also from the art in my store that I promote. I chose from the start to not be a “teddy bears and balloons” FTD kind of florist. All of my greeting cards are made by local artists. I stock my shelves with hand-made pots and vases by local talent. My prices are competitive, and every design is custom made for my clients. I have also developed a reputation for long-lasting flowers. I hand pick all of the flowers that I sell and I know from my years of experience, which flowers are long lasting and which are just here for a day or two.

Acanthus Floral Art is a unique floral shop and that is primarily thanks to the community it is rooted in and largely supported by. My shop is on residential street, in the middle of the block. Everyday a stream of toddlers, with their daycare providers, waddle past the shop on the way to the park (and I always go out and greet them), teenagers walk home from school on my sidewalks, and neighbors on their way to the local candy store or butcher shop stop in to visit and shop. I live in the building above the shop and I am our neighborhood block leader. Every year I host the National Night Out party in the front yard of the shop and I also organize our neighborhood Holiday party. I take community pottery classes through the local park department and I sell the pieces I make, and some that my classmates make, in my store.

In fact, it has been through the community pottery classes that I have met some of the most amazing people in my city. I have collaborated with many passionate and talented neighbors and fellow artists to host community blood drives, charity events, art festivals, raise money for local organizations, work on crime prevention, and promote other small businesses. These community friends are my best promoters and customers. One of my fellow ceramic artists is a 5th grade teacher in the suburbs. She brought her entire class, on the city bus, to my shop for a field trip. I led a floral design lesson for them where they each got to create their own floral arrangement and take it home on the bus.

My parents not only were able to finance my business start-up, but most of my family works at the shop when I need extra help. My customers get cookies from my Mom, silly stories from my Dad and my daughter runs the cash register and makes greeting cards to sell. My son-in-law and my sister handle deliveries. It is family and community that make us what we are.My parents put up the financial backing and bought the building so that I could open Acanthus Floral Art, but 90% of the time I run the business pretty much on my own. I am designer, manager, janitor, marketing manager, sales person, buyer, decision maker, landscaper, gardener, repair person (tonight I installed a new thermostat for the furnace in the shop) bucket cleaner, delivery person and shop sweeper. For the last several years I’ve also had to work a part time job away from the shop to make an income. And yet, through sheer persistence and dedication, and the fact that I really do have a vision and talent for this business, we made a profit for the first time last year. It wasn’t much, but it was encouraging. Thankfully, I do have a bookkeeper. She pays the bills, balances the check book, pays the taxes and keeps me sane, but she is grossly underpaid for the work she does for me. She believes in and is committed to my business so she is willing to do it for less than she should and could charge for her work.

If a business grant was awarded to me, I would first hire a marketing and sales manager who could promote my business and keep new orders rolling in. The more we sell, the more ability I would have to hire and pay additional people to keep the heart of the business pumping. I have so many ideas, traditional and innovative to promote and sell and grow the business, but without employees to handle many of the daily tasks of running the store, I often run out of time, money and energy before I can exercise many of them. One of the biggest challenges my business faces is that people don’t know that I am here! I have been open for almost six years and everyday someone walks in the door and says that they live in the area but never noticed the shop, or that they have been meaning to stop in for ages. I have a few corporate accounts and event planners that I work with, but not enough of them. My business is growing every year, but at such a slow rate. I want to step it up, join more networking groups, advertise more, and learn new ways to use social networks, and really get aggressive promoting my business, but I always run short on those two important things – time and money. This grant would enable me to get the help I need. I am confident that I could grow the business to the level and status that I know it has the ability to be, given the resources.